Weasley's Work Woes
by JadeMWong
Summary: Arthur Weasley's son, Ronald, often refers to his Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office as the most boring department in the Ministry, but Arthur and his assistant Perkins know it's always an exciting day going to work. This work day in particular revolved around a giant rubber duck, a secluded lake, and lots of frazzled hair. ONESHOT.


**Weasley's Work Woes**

Arthur Weasley never thought he would have this much trouble capturing a giant rubber duck. Yet here he was with his assistant Perkins, both puffing in frustration as the rubber duck in question floated around the secluded lake, squeaking mockingly at them.

"I'm way too old to be chasing a bathroom toy halfway across England, Arthur," the elderly Perkins sat against one of the trees that added to the lake's seclusion, his wispy white hair a frazzled mess.

"Oh nonsense Perkins, you've still got a lot of years in you," Arthur replied as he conjured a magical barrier around the lake and added Muggle-repelling charms for good measure. Glaring at the toy, he aimed his wand and muttered, " _Stupefy!_ " only for the duck to dodge the spell with all the ease of a seasoned Chaser, squeak happily, and continue its meandering around the edges of the barrier.

"We've already tried to stun the bloody thing for hours, Arthur."

"Worth another shot," Arthur shrugged and put a hand through his own frazzled red hair as he plopped down next to Perkins. He took off his raggedy brown wizard's hat. "Look on the bright side, we've finally got the darn thing trapped here. Only a matter of time before the charm on the duck wears off, anyhow."

Perkins grunted as he rubbed a tired eye, looking every bit the 100-year-old warlock that he was.

"Hey, I can't run the office without you, Perkins. Not many of us understand the importance of regulating the misuse of Muggle artifacts these days. I mean, imagine the chaos if the rubber duck started terrorizing Muggles before we got to it! Think of the exposure and all the memory-wiping charms we would've had to do, at the very least. It would be a nightmare!" Arthur clapped his partner's shoulder. "I'm grateful for you, old chap, and don't you forget it."

A whooshing sound shrilled through the air like air being rushed out of a giant balloon and the two wizards turned to see the rubber duck deflating to its proper size.

"Fantastic! Engorgement Charm's wearing off!" Arthur jumped to his feet, momentarily forgetting about his hat as it plopped into a nearby shrub, and exclaimed, " _Accio Rubber Duck!_ " The duck shot across the lake, still shrinking the whole way. By the time it landed on the wizard's palm, it was squeaking dejectedly, the size of a typical child's toy. "I would love to run some tests on this and see why Muggles love the company of a rubber duck so much. What do you say, Perkins?"

The warlock chuckled as he smoothed his white hair, gingerly got back on his feet, and plucked his partner's hat out of the shrubbery. He helped Arthur undo the enchantments placed around the lake before they both Apparated back to the Ministry. The rubber duck squeaked in fright as a loud crack cut through the air.

Perkins had to admit, he too was curious about the true function of a rubber duck.

* * *

 _ ***A/N: Written as part of a Fanfiction Writing Game invented by fellow author The Urban Spaceman, and cleverly dubbed "Take Two Tag".**_

 _ **The basic idea is two Fanfiction authors with similar fandoms write a oneshot (500-5,000 words) on**_ _ ** _ **an agreed-upon scenario**_ , as well as an agreed deadline to upload their stories. After the stories have been uploaded, each author would do an in-depth review of the other's work, with the goal of getting Fanfic authors to interact with and critique each other. Of course, other authors and readers are welcome to weigh in their critiques as well!**_

 _ **Please let me know if this sounds like something you're interested in participating, and I'll gladly tag you for the next round! I'm looking forward to meeting tons of awesome authors through this :).**_

 _ **Thanks for reading, guys ~ Jade**_


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